Today, after Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed his biennial budget that used $225 million of savings from accepting federal funds to close the coverage gap to provide a 2% pay increase for state employees, investments in the Virginia Retirement System, and Line of Duty funding, House Republicans can’t even get their ducks in a row to pass a joint resolution to move forward with the budget.

Perhaps it’s because they’ve used up all of their excuses to refuse health insurance to up to 400,000 Virginians.

“Every day House Republicans stall on closing the coverage gap we lose $5 million in Virginia tax-payer money,” said DPVA spokesperson Ashley Bauman. “Now that legislators are back in Richmond, one would think that they would try to pass a budget as soon as possible, but House Republicans continue to stall. Governor McAuliffe laid out a responsible path forward on the budget, and it’s clear that House Republicans have no excuses left as to why they continue to waste $5 million per day in taxpayer funds. It’s time for them to work across the aisle not only to pass a budget, that includes Governor McAuliffe’s two year pilot program to cover up to 400,000 Virginians.”